tube ride bailouts

[Fossil Man]

After the recent forum on maneuvers, and in light of Tom Backers recent close call , thought I'd toss this topic out there . Sometimes on tuberides if I don't make it out, I get mercilessly bludgeoned like an uninvited yuppie at an outlaw biker party. On tiny waves I can get away with pulling the board through the face, but some of my other techniques for pulling the "ejection handle" on waves of consequence don't feel too solid. Get really tired of the occasional reunion with the board in the "spin cycle" and was hoping to glean some additional tips and techniques on getting out when the curtain closes.

Thanks Guys, Robert

[Scott]

Great question, Robert. I'd like help on that technique, too. Maybe Simon can weigh in on how he pulls through the back of heaving Cowries!

[mutiny]

Id love to hear others tips and techniques also!!
I usually am hanging by the skin of my teeth and getting worked ..alot
my board and I collide a lot.... so I guess I have no technique
I know that when Im getting barreled going left that that i hurt myself less than getting in the barrel going right?? But I love rights!!! just not very good at getting barreled going right
perhaps its in the angle of attack... and when leaning to fit and negotiate inside the barrel I believe my outside shoulder leans towards the front of the wave rather than the back of the wave? and thus i get clipped more often and have less space to make minor adjustments with the weighting /unweighting while in the barrel cause im all hunched over??
just my 2 cents

[tomway]

Ditto - I was just going to ask this very same question.

It's ironic that kneeboards are so good for taking of late in heaving thick slabs, but absolutely terrible to bail from in the same conditions.

I've been surfing this ridiculous reef dredger recently. It's a few seconds of a huge perfect bazza which just lets you squeak out as it surges on to reef at the end. I've been lucky so far and haven't hit anything, but at some point I'm going to need to bail or pull through the back without hitting my board, the reef or both!

[RMcKnee]

... mercilessly bludgeoned like an uninvited yuppie at an outlaw biker party.

That's gold.

I'm sure there are others far better qualified than me to answer your question but here's my two cents worth anyway. As a youngster I developed a theory that the best place to be in a closeout is right in the middle of the collapsing wave. The idea is that there's a decent lump of air in there that sort of provides a bit of a cushion to hide in and you can then just pop out the back of the whitewater after all the drama's over. Kind of works sometimes, but not always.

At Kirra my technique when going down in a blaze of glory is to dive forward off my board as low and shallow as possible and aiming obliquely toward the back of the wave. Once I've done this I usually spread myself as flat as I can and try to think like a sea-anchor. The idea is to get out of the shallow impact zone and avoid getting sucked back over the falls. Often works, but then I'm not surfing over coral. I think the speed I'm going when I take that dive is pretty important. I need enough to really penetrate and push out the back of the wave far enough to get away from the suction. I guess this technique might work more consistently if I wasn't attached to my board. It's sometimes frustrating to be free and clear out the back of the maelstrom only to be pulled back in foot first.

[analbirth]

if you know you wont make it out just stay in the barrel as long as you can, get as deep as possible to let the lip get past you, and still try and do a mcknee. Punching out through the back i find is not as easy on your knees as when standing up due to basics physics. We're on our knees and can't push away with as much force.

[jdc]

arnt some of us getting a bit old for these heroics

with a few near misses and age creeping up on the average kneelo who most likely has a kid or three who are teens or younger, pehaps better jugment is needed on what to pull into and what not to.

If your unencombered, go for it, by all means...its your life.

One in 7 climbers dont make down from chomolungma (Everest). Some dont make down it from their 7 or 8th climb. Once maybe twice would be enough youd think.

Some times stats matter..some times fearlessness is not self glory. Enjoy your older age

[Shelfbreak]

Have had reasonable success with hanging on a long as possible and also the diving off the front technique however lot of my best beltings have been when getting my line wrong as the initial lip descends.

Off thread a bit
When coming out of the barrel on a high line at speed (on rare occasions) I often manage to catch the outside front rail and fly off in front of the board and sort of bodysurf for a few metres. Sort of takes the gloss of what was probably a reasonably competent bit of surfing to get in that position.

[Fossil Man]

I remember some footage of Shaun Thompson in his younger days snapping a hard turn at the bottom of a closeout/barrel and punching through with consistent success , but I agree with A.B., we don't have enough leverage as kneelos to pull that off in larger surf. One of Parkseys team riders told me years ago that he will try to push down hard on the nose to bury it just as he dives foward and get more separation from his board. Thats a little tougher these days with some of our nose rockers so well engineered to resist pearling. Had one guy tell me once that he actually rolls backwards off the tail ( that doesn't sound like it would end well...ever ). I'm kinda with jdc in regards to wave selection , I look at some closed out line-ups, and figure I might as well just beat myself about the head with my board , walk back to the truck and call it even. Sparrow seems to pull this stuff off without ruffling a feather, it'll be interesting how he weighs in.

[analbirth]

Anthony, catching a rail at this time of year you can get away with blaming the wales in the line up

[Sparrow]

Hi guys
My experience with pulling through the back of the barrel is no success story
If i have been travelling through a barrel for a while i will 95% of the time commit to the tube ride even if it looks like it will close out rather than attempt to punch through the back. Angles are just all wrong!
Its a dangerous position to put yourself into & if you don't get good penetration through the wave you are going to go back over either with your board or flailing in complete panic knowing that you have separated from your board by only a small margin and its just a matter of milli seconds before pain strikes.
It can be done but a decent bottom turn is required to exit through the back. The bigger the wave the less chance of pulling this off.
My opinion & experience is to commit, teach yourself to ride the tube for as long as possible even if you know its going to close out. Once the initial impact of a lip strikes the base of the wave which is often the point of silly decisions If you can push yourself past that you find yourself floating & for me a peaceful sensation follows. That initial crunch is the danger zone.
Its that ability to stay calm and not put yourself into any unnecessary positions during that danger zone.
I will & have always believed that the safest place to be is inside the barrel, not trying to sneak out by turning straight (but if your willing to take a calculated risk it can be sweet or sour ) or pushing through the back, definitely not rolling off the back of your board & even though i have done it & still occasionally still do it, jumping forward over the nose of your board is dangerous
I surf some fairly heavy reefs & the odd bone crunching beachy, so if i do commit to tube riding I am not hesitant & stay on my board for as long as it lets me. I think people just need to understand that if you are riding inside a tube & you come off or try to pull through the back or get guillotined by the lip there will always be a chance of being hit with your board or the bottom (sand or reef). Risk is there & no matter what path or technique you choose at some point it will kick you in the ass.
Evidence being almost the loss of two of our brothers who are more than competent in the water.

[Scott]

Okay, Simon, so I've got you holding on as far as you can go in the tube because to do anything else just increases the risk. Then the fearsome lip comes down, the tube compresses on you and you then...???

Usually, you're going to get initially shoved down and then up and over the falls on a powerful wave, right? Which you handle by....???

I'm just usually compressed up in a ball, covering my head and face with my arms and just riding out the storm. Is that what you're doing?

Nice thread, enjoying the responses...

[Sparrow]

Hi Scott,

Okay, Simon, so I've got you holding on as far as you can go in the tube because to do anything else just increases the risk. Then the fearsome lip comes down, the tube compresses on you and you then...???

Take a deep breath

but if i pick a good line in the tube and get through this compression stage & stay on my board to the floating sensation I've described the wipeout is often way less intense. It consumes you without the impact and (usually) spits you out the back. Its timing, positioning, weight adjustment, speed, experience, determination & luck sometimes that gets you to that next point.

Usually, you're going to get initially shoved down and then up and over the falls on a powerful wave, right? Which you handle by....???

relaxing and keeping calm. I have not got an answer at this point Scott. If i have not picked a good line and i do get compressed and do go initially down then up over the falls the rest is up to the type of wave you are surfing. But how you act whilst having this happen to you is what i mentioned above, Relax & stay calm. Saying i would protect my head is all good but if the wave is crazy! being rag dolled in the true meaning gives you no options physically, but mentally staying calm & understanding that it will ease at some point keeps the Oxygen levels higher. I do protect myself (head) when possible especially when i have that 6th sense feeling that something (board, reef) is close.



I've got this question to ask anyone out in KSUSA world. Why is it that pretty much every injury i have had happen to me is in small waves?
Stitchers, fractures, concussions, bruises have all happened in waves 2-4ft.
I will say that these injuries have never happened when I've managed to stay on my board riding a tube. The lip seems to be a consistent with injury with me! Either being in it or been crushed by it

[red]

Why is it that pretty much every injury i have had happen to me is in small waves?
Stitchers, fractures, concussions, bruises have all happened in waves 2-4ft.

Because you don't want to get hurt in big waves?
Probably don't in small waves, either - just more willing to take the risk.

On the tube thing, the biggest worry I have is getting my face mashed into the board as I ride it out (I probably enter that lip smashing part too often and get my head too low, anyway).

[jdc]

pretty much every injury i have had happen to me is in small waves?
Stitchers, fractures, concussions, bruises have all happened in waves 2-4ft.


:

Yeah! Im the same, I absolutely never get big wave injuries